Development of a more efficient maple syrup evaporator. Final report

Description/Abstract

The goal of this project was to retrofit a traditional wood-fired maple syrup evaporator to make more efficient use of the wood fuel. A sap preheater was constructed that used waste heat from the steam to preheat the incoming sap. The preheater was tested on the evaporator and 8% more water was processed. There were some problems that will be discussed in the body of the report. A sap pan with fins incorporated into the bottom (described in the 1st and 2nd quarterly reports) was built but was not tested because the fins could not be properly sealed at the ends. Put more simply, it leaked. The bulk of time and energy was spent designing, building, and installing the forced draft and heat exchanger system (refer to 3rd quarterly report). A squirrel cage blower forced fresh air through twelve pipes that were arranged in the stack to the firebox and a draft inducer was mounted on top of the stack. With this arrangement plus the preheater 27% more water was processed than the original rig with the same amount of wood.